


Sundance

by anri



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Jesse McCree's origin story, M/M, Young Soldier: 76 | Jack Morrison
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-01
Updated: 2016-12-01
Packaged: 2018-09-03 15:01:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8718358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anri/pseuds/anri
Summary: His mind was suddenly racing with thoughts. He put his gun down in his lap. He sucked in a breath, addressing everyone on the com. “Hold your fire, there’s a kid over there.”





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Overwatch fanfiction no h8 please. :')  
> I'm sorry this sucks

Gabriel was in the middle of fight when he realised. He was staring down the barrel of his gun, firing, picking off the gang members he could see, doing his best to try and stay out of their line of fire. He was focussed on the task at hand, his mind going blank, thinking of nothing except his task. And then he saw it. One of the members of the gang popping up behind a rock, firing in his direction. Maybe it was to do with Gabe’s enhanced senses that he could see so well before he ducked behind a rock, maybe he was just a vigilant person, but whatever it was, when he saw that face, he froze. He hesitated, his finger still on the trigger. It was all he could do to duck behind the wall, and avoid the bullets heading his way.

His mind was suddenly racing with thoughts. He put his gun down in his lap. He sucked in a breath, addressing everyone on the com.

“Hold your fire, there’s a kid over there.”

The com exploded with noise as gunshots faded out. “ _What_?”

“Reyes can you repeat tha-“

“Did he just say _kid_?”

“There can’t be a chil-“

“There is a kid over there,” Gabriel repeated. He murmured his location into the com, hesitantly looking past the wall, back at the rubble where the boy had first emerged. “Are you sure, Gabe?” he heard over the com.

“Yes,”

“Is there a change of plan, then?”

“Of course. We’re not killing a kid. We need to eliminate the other targets, but I want that boy taken in unharmed,” he barked. He heard agreements from the rest of his team, and they resumed work. Gabriel couldn’t focus entirely, though. He’d been in this job for a long time, but he’d never thought he’d see a boy soldier like this.

“Boy target has been acquired, I repeat, boy target has been acquired.”

Gabriel couldn’t describe the relief he felt when he heard that through the com. “Keep him secure, get him to the back lines, we’ll finish up here.”

He first properly laid eyes on the boy when he was sat in the back of the van. The boy had a gunshot wound to the arm which had been healed, and several grazes and bruises on his face, arms and legs, but he was mostly unharmed. He sat in the back of the van, arms crossed, slouching sulkily in his seat. One of Gabriel’s men whistled. “Man, that really is a kid.”

“I never thought even Deadlock would do something like this. Bringing a child into a mess like this…” Gabe muttered, gazing at the boy.

He had brown shaggy hair that was falling down in front of his eyes, and a bandanna around his neck. His skin was dark and littered with bruises and cuts from his time in the gang. On his forearm was a big, gaudy tattoo of a skull. He was definitely a Deadlock boy.

“Reyes, sir, you have a call from Strike Commander Morriso-“

“Alright, hand me over,” he said, turning his back to the boy.

 

“Jack, babe, I thought you’d wait until I got back until-“

“A little birdie told me that you brought in a prisoner from the Deadlock gang.”

Gabriel smirked. “Straight down to business, are we?”

Jack sighed, “Gabe, did you bring in a prisoner from the gang or not?”

“Yeah, I did.”

“Why? The express order was-“

“I know, I know what you said,” Gabe’s smirked faltered. “There was a kid in their ranks.”

Jack sucked in a breath, “You’re kidding me…”

“Nope,” he turned over his shoulder, looking at the boy again. “We have him in custody, but man…he can’t be more than eighteen years old at most. I’d say he’s sixteen. He’s got the tattoo and everything. I wanna interview him, talk to him. When’s the soonest you can get down here?”

“I’ll pack my bags now, hopefully I’ll make it to you by evening.”

“Alright, look forward to it,” the response was automatic – something they’d said to one another after years and years of being together. “Love you, stay safe.”

“Love you too.”

Jack hung up, and Gabe paused for just a moment. “Alright, let’s go back to base, get this kid into an interrogation room. Commander Morrison is gunna be getting over here to talk to him with me, now let’s move out!”

  
Gabe got into the car next to his driver, looking back over the seat, at the boy. God, he looked even younger up close. The boy glared at him, gutting his chin out, “What?”

It was meant to be a threatening gesture but Gabriel nearly laughed. “Alright, bud, we’re taking you back to our base. This may take a while.”

The boy nodded, slouching further into the seat, looking out the window. “Not much of a talker then, are you?” he turned back, sighing. This was going to be a long drive.

Jack arrived a few hours later as promised. Gabriel was sat outside of the interrogation room, watching through a window as the kid squirmed. He’d had his weapons removed, but Jack had still wanted him handcuffed. There was no telling what a child from the Deadlock Gang was capable of doing. Jack marched over, taking a look at the boy as he sat slumped in his seat. He was drumming his hands on the table, scowling at the wall. Jack raised his eyebrows. “Christ, he is young.”

“Told ya.” Jack crossed his arms over his chest.

“What do you want to do with him?”

Gabriel shrugged, “it’s still early days, but…if this goes well, I was thinking, maybe…he could be a new recruit.”

“What? You want to employ a kid who belongs to a dangerous gang?”

“He’s a kid – he could be of some use. Like I said, it’s still early days. If he’s not responsive, we can put him in prison. It doesn’t make much difference. But I think he could make a brilliant Blackwatch officer.” Jack frowned, looking out at the boy once more. “Well, you’re the boss of that.”

“Ready to go in?”

“When you are,” Jack murmured, making his way towards the door.

 

“Alright sunshine, we’re back again.”

The kid looked up glaring at him, his eyes passed briefly over Jack. “Aw shit, there’s two of you now?”

Gabe frowned, “Shut up kid, you’re like 13 don’t swear,” he said, sitting down across the table. Jack sat next to him, watching the boy curiously. “I’m Commander Gabriel Reyes, and this is Strike Commander Jack Morrison-“

“How’re you both commanders?” the boy asked. Jack and Gabriel exchanged glances.

“Because we are, how’s that?” Jack said, leaning back in his chair.

“We’re from Overwatch. You heard of Overwatch?”

“Do y’all think I’m an idiot?”

“Not gunna lie to you kid, you’re acting like one,” Gabriel dismissed. “We gotta get some basic information about you first okay,” he clicked his pen on, holding a pad of paper. “So, you wanna tell us your name?”

The boy licked his lips. “Surname Kid,” he said. Gabe wrote down.

“Yup.”

“First name Sundance.”

Gabe arched an eyebrow, staring at the kid. He clicked the pen off, setting it down. “The Sundance Kid, huh?”

“Yeah, and?”

“Which one of those body bags holds your Butch Cassidy, then?” Gabe murmured. Jack kicked him under the table. “How old are you then, Sundance?” he asked, leaning forward.

“I’m 19,” he said, cocking his head. Gabriel laughed darkly, crossing his arms across his head.

“Cut the bullshit, kid.”

“Qué?” the boy asked, looking at him innocently. He was picking at the skin around the edge of his nails. Gabriel rolled his eyes, bursting into rapid fire Spanish. “ _So you want to do this in Spanish, hm_?” The boy was obviously surprised to hear Gabriel talk. Jack twitched in his seat. He didn’t look exactly happy about the interview occurring in Spanish – especially when he couldn’t really understand Gabe when he talked so fast. “ _Now let me tell you something about Overwatch, you little shit_ ,” Gabe leaned forward menacingly. The kid stopped fiddling with his hands. He narrowed his eyes at Gabe. “ _You saw how I took down all of your teammates right? About half of your friends are going home in body bags, and another half are going to spend the rest of their days in prison. Now you were recklessly shooting up the place – you were probably gunna find yourself dead with a bullet in your head, courtesy of Overwatch if I hadn’t stopped them. ‘Cuz you’re a kid. You don’t know shit about life and I wasn’t about to have you killed over some mistake you made as a teenager. I thought you could use a second chance. So I hauled your ass all the way up here, got this bigwig down from the main office all the way just to see you. Do not tell me I made a mistake._ ” The boy looked down at the table, breaking eye contact with Gabriel. He smirked. He had the upper ground now. He leaned back. “Of course,” he continued, in English. “If I dragged you over here, and brought the big boss out for nothing…I will kill you. Just like all your little teammates out there.” The boy sucked in a breath. “Or, maybe if we’re feeling nice, we’ll give you a prison sentence. But that ain’t much nicer. Prison for the rest of your days, left to rot in your damn cell with men who could make you regret bein’ born, all over some dumbass mistake you made when you were just a kid.”

“So? My two options are prison or death?”

“Not quite,” Jack said, leaning back on the chair.

“I run a little branch of Overwatch called Blackwatch. You actually met the Blackwatch team today – in fact, a bunch of my team are getting bullets taken out of them on account of you.” The boy smirked at that, obviously proud. “You’re a good shot, aren’t you? We could use a sharpshooter like you on the team.”

The boy raised his eyebrows. “You want me to join you?”

“Well, you’d be wasted in prison.”

“Ultimately, it’s your choice,” Jack added, “But it would be a shame if somebody with your skill was left to rot in prison. You could do some good in Overwatch. Pay back for some of the shit you’ve done.”

“You’re offering me a free ride out of prison-“

“You’d be working for Overwatch, so not exactly a free ride but-“

“But I wouldn’t go to prison.”

“No. You wouldn’t.”

The boy looked between the two of them. “Well?” Jack prompted.

“Overwatch, obviously. You think I’m gunna go to prison if I can avoid it?” the boy smirked. Gabriel laughed.

“Good choice, little man,” he stared the kid in the face again. “There’s…one thing I ask for, though. For someone on my team. Complete honesty. So,” he clicked the pen again, “I’m gunna ask again. What’s your name?”

The boy bit his lip. He looked down at his hands. “Jesse McCree.”

“Alright, Jesse,” he said, reaching a hand across the table, “Welcome to Overwatch.”

 

Jack roomed with Gabriel during the night before they made the journey back. He went straight for the shower when they got in, and when he came out of the bathroom, dressed in new pyjamas, Gabe was sat on the bed, his legs crossed, glasses on, his face illuminated by the screen of his work laptop. “What’re you looking at?” Jack asked, dumping his towel on the floor, crawling over the bed to lie next to Gabriel. “That kid, Jesse McCree. I got all the files and intel we have on him, I’m looking through it.”

“Who is he?”

“He’s seventeen years old and he’s a missing kid. Been missing for four years.”

“Since he was _thirteen_? Jesus Christ, who reported him missing?”

“His mom. Said he walked outta the house after a fight with his step-dad. She’s reported that he’s sent her an envelope of money every month – never had a return address though. It was always signed Jesse.”

“We can’t take a missing kid, Gabriel…” Jack muttered.

Gabe bit his lip. “We need to discuss this with his mom. He’s seventeen, he’s still a kid. But I think he’d benefit from Overwatch, but I think we should talk to his mother.” He rubbed his eyes under his glasses, leaning back on the headboard. “This is too much,” he said eventually, closing the laptop down. “It’s all giving me a headache.”

“We should go on holiday again,” Jack suggested, leaning on his pillow, reaching his hand out to hold Gabriel’s. “Get away from all this craziness, even if it’s just for a couple of days…”

“Commander suggesting we bunk off?” Gabriel smirked, taking his hand.

“Well…you are my fiancé,” Jack reminded him. Gabe smiled,

“Yeah, I remember, I remember,”

“You better remember proposing to me, it’s kind of important.” Jack rolled onto his side, kissing Gabriel’s shoulder. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Gabriel said softly, kissing Jack tenderly on the lips. It had been so long since they began dating, and he was still enthralled by Jack. “Hey…” he whispered, breaking off the kiss. “If we get to keep Jesse…he’ll be like our son.”

Jack choked, “Fucks sake, Gabe, can you imagine us as parents?” he chuckled softly, wrapping an arm around him. “Well it’s all good, cuz he’s already been raised. All we have to do is just make sure he doesn’t die – it’s perfect.”

“Yeah but do you think we can even do that?”

“We didn’t kill Fareeha.”

“Well…we still need to talk to his mom first,” Jack said, kissing Gabe gently again.

“I can’t imagine how much she misses him.”

 

“What do you mean you need to talk to my _mom_?” Jesse roared, as he sat in the bed of his cell, his hair still mused from sleep. “You’re a kid. Legally, your mother is still your guardian,” Jack explained.

“We haven’t spoken in years!”

“Yeah, I’m aware. You’ve been missing for four years. Don’t you even want to tell her how you’re doing, that you’re safe?”

Jesse pouted, looking down. “She don’t care…”

“Kid, she’s your mom. She has to care.”

“You don’t know-“

“Look, we’re not asking you to have a big ol’ family reunion… just tell her you’re safe, and you’re going Overwatch. It can be done over the phone,” Jack said shortly, crossing his arms. Jesse flung his blanket off him, standing up. “Alright, fine, let’s get this over and done with.”

 

It wasn’t answered with just a phone call. It was an experience unlike any other for Gabriel. Dialling the number, hearing the woman on the other end respond. He told her Jesse was safe, she called him a piece of shit and asked where her son was, he clarified he hadn’t abducted him, she started crying. Jack asked for the phone so he could sort the situation out, glaring at Gabriel all the way, telling him _you’re an absolute disgrace_ with his blue eyes. Jack then handed the phone to Jesse. “She wants to talk to you,” he said firmly. It was an order. Jesse gulped, taking the phone from him.

“Hello mom.” Gabriel could hear the mad sobbing and screaming from where he was standing. He winced. “Yeah, I’m…I’m fine.” The kid swallowed again. Gabe could see his lower lip trembling. “I joined a gang. Yes. Yes, mom, I know…I know it was stupid…I know.” There was a pause, and he could hear his mother babbling on the phone. “I…I don’t know,” he looked up at Gabriel and Jack. “What’s gunna happen now?”

The two men looked at one another.

What _was_ going to happen now?

They somehow managed to make a plan with Mrs McCree as she sobbed over the phone. They would meet in Santa Fe, with police to confirm the boy’s identity, and Jack and Gabriel would head along to discuss the specifics of Jesse’s recruitment.

They hung up eventually, and Jesse held the phone in his hand. He stood very still. His eyes were shining, moist. “You alright there, kid?” Gabe asked.

“Shut up,” he whimpered, rubbing his eyes as he started to cry.

 

So they ended up on a train that afternoon – a private train, guarded heavily by Overwatch staff. Jesse seemed excited despite himself. He looked out the window at the passing scenery. “What,” Gabe asked, “Have you never been on a train before?”

Jesse scowled at him from across the carriage where he sitting, away from Jack and Gabe. “They’d never let people from Deadlock on a train…” he muttered.

He was wearing a long-sleeved shirt that was newly bought – he wanted something that covered up the deadlock tattoo. He didn’t want his mother to see that. They rode in silence for the most part, until a man appeared at the carriage door. “Commander Morrison, there’s a phone call from Amari for you.”

Jack sighed, getting up. “Back in a sec,” he called as the door slid shut behind him.

There was silence for a moment, before Jesse started asking questions. “Who is that guy?”

“I told you – Commander Morrison.”

“But like…to you. You two seem close.”

There was a pause. “He’s my fiancé.”

“Really?” Jesse asked, finally breaking away from the window to look at him.

“Yup.”

“Are two commanders allowed to be married?”

“Well, they haven’t told us not to, so I’m assuming we can.”

“How long ya been together?”

“Probably longer than you been alive, son.”

“Don’t call me that.”

Gabriel smiled, looking out of the window. “Hey, kid…you been gone since you were thirteen…does that mean you’ve only got an eighth grade education?”

McCree pouted again, “So what if I do?”

Gabriel shook his head “Boy, me and Jack are gunna have some problems with this one…” he muttered, watching the scenery go by.

**Author's Note:**

> [My tumblr](http://anri-kun.tumblr.com/)


End file.
